Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights

By Karl W Oestreich

Mayo Clinic in the News is a weekly highlights summary of major media coverage. If you would like to be added to the weekly distribution list, send a note to Heather Privettwith this subject line: SUBSCRIBE to Mayo Clinic in the News. Thank you.

Florida Times-UnionStenting and surgery equally effective in treating a narrowed carotid artery, according to study by Charlie Patton

Stenting and surgery are equally effective at reducing the risk of stroke in someone with a narrowed carotid artery, Thomas Brott, a physician who is a professor of neurosciences at the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, told participants in the American Heart Association’s International Stroke Conference in Los Angeles Thursday… “The second phase completes a story, and the results are very encouraging,” Brott told the Times-Union this week.

Traditional radiation treatment for cancer can hurt as many healthy cells as cancerous ones. Now a Valley hospital is opening a new cancer center linked to a national network which includes pencil-thin radiation targeting often deadly tumors. The Mayo Clinic Cancer Center in north Phoenix provides a dedicated facility to the hospital's practicing oncologists. Ruben Mesa, director of the Cancer Center, said having a common facility can better unite doctors and researchers working on a wide variety of cancers.

Reach:KJZZ-FM is a commercial station owned by Maricopa Community Colleges in Tempe, AZ. The format of the station is news and jazz. KJZZ-FM's target audience is news and jazz music listeners, ages 18 to 64, in the Tempe, AZ area.

Context: Mayo Clinic introduced its Proton Beam Therapy Program, with treatment for patients available in new facilities in Minnesota in 2015 and in Arizona in by mid March 2016. Proton beam therapy expands Mayo Clinic's cancer care capabilities. In properly selected patients — especially children and young adults and those with cancers located close to critical organs and body structures — proton beam therapy is an advance over traditional radiotherapy. More information about Mayo Clinic's Proton Beam Therapy Program can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

As someone who doesn’t drink coffee, I’m sometimes forced to ponder whether I’ve escaped an unhealthy addiction or if I’ve just been asleep my whole life…“There aren’t any guidelines to help guide you on this,” said Dr. Donald Hensrud, director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program. “This is kind of an individual decision.”

Reach:The New York Timeshas a daily circulation of nearly 649,000 and a Sunday circulation of 1.18 million.

Context: The Mayo Clinic Healthy Living Program is redefining healthy living. It’s a comprehensive, whole-body wellness experience guided by medical research and evidence-based medicine to offer guests trusted solutions to improve quality of life. Donald Hensrud, M.D. is the program’s medical director.

US News & World Report —7 Wellness Travel Trends to Watch in 2016 by Liz Weiss — Incorporating Medical Programs Into Wellness Packages…Mandarin Oriental properties, on the other hand, feature a Healthy Living program through the Mayo Clinic, Dimon explains. Guests have their body composition, stress and posture, among other criteria, evaluated, plus they can enjoy wellness classes, such as Pilates and meditation, along with nutritious meals and rejuvenating spa treatments.

Politico —A Call for a National Obesity Strategy by Jenny Hopkinson — The obesity epidemic is a solvable problem, but the United States really needs a comprehensive national strategy to tackle it, argues James Levine, a leading researcher and co-director of the Mayo Clinic — Arizona State University Obesity Solutions program. “We actually need a very clearly defined national strategy and that national strategy deals with the spectrum of the social challenges, the medical challenges and thinking it through in a structure,” Levine told reporters at a National Press Foundation event on obesity in Scottsdale, Ariz. Levine pointed out that many leading organizations, including the National Institutes of Health, look at how to combat the health crisis, but too often that work happens in silos.

The Telegraph —Crosswords and brain games do not prevent Alzheimer's for most of population by Sarah Knapton — Lead scientist Dr Prashanthi Vemuri, from Mayo Clinic, said: "Recent studies have shown conflicting results about the value of physical and mental activity related to the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, and we noticed that levels of education differed in those studies. "When we looked specifically at the level of lifetime learning, we found that carriers of the APoE4 gene who had higher education and continued to learn through middle age had fewer amyloid deposition on imaging when compared to those who did not continue with intellectual activity in middle age." Additional coverage: HealthDay, InfoSalus.com, ABC Salud,Huffington Post UK, Express UK, Daily Mail, Philly.com, WebMD, Medical Daily, Mirror UK, Psychiatry Advisor, US News & World Report,

AARP — How to Survive Your First Heart Attack by Beth Howard — Every 34 seconds, someone in the U.S. has a heart attack. Every 60 seconds, someone dies of one. What sufferers do — or don't do — in the critical first moments can be the difference between life and death… EMTs will also know the best cardiac center to take you to, says Sharonne N. Hayes, M.D., founder of the Women's Heart Clinic at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. "The nearest hospital may be five minutes away," she says, "but the one best equipped to open up your arteries may be 15 minutes away."

HealthLeaders Media — Changing Patient Behavior Through Technology by Scott Mace —The Power of Texting — Nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone today, according to the Pew Research Center. Healthcare systems are capitalizing on the widespread use of such devices to effect behavior change. At the Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic, with more than 59,000 employees in 70 health system sites in Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Wisconsin, and Iowa, texting has played a key role in positive outcomes in the health system's smoking cessation program. "It is clear that text messaging and mobile applications support smoking cessation, and there have been a couple of large systematic reviews that have shown that," says Michael Burke, EdD, program coordinator of the Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Center.

Bloomberg —Research at Bar Harbor lab could be used to reduce nerve pain — Rieger said research of the distal tail fin of the zebrafish — which most closely resembles the nerves in human extremities — led the research team to discover drugs that can be used to reverse nerve degeneration in the fish. "We are now going to work with the Mayo Clinic (in Rochester, Minnesota) to see if the results can be replicated in human tissue samples," Rieger said. "We need to do a careful analysis."

Bustle — The One Thing You Should Never Do To Your Nails, No Matter What by Danelle Sandoval — Mayo Clinic Dermatologist, Rochelle Torgerson, M.D., Ph.D., told The Huffington Post that you can, "end up with redness and swelling and pain and discomfort — that's a sign of infection." She also added that, "you can do permanent damage to the area, so you forever make a funny nail." Forever, guys. For-ev-er.

Finance and Commerce —Rochester airport lines up funding for mandatory upgrades by Karlee Weinmann — The lone Rochester project included in Gov. Mark Dayton’s bonding proposal is a $10.5 million build-out of the city’s airport, an effort local officials say will help Rochester boost development and tourism in line with an ambitious long-range growth plan. The world-renowned Mayo Clinic is a draw for many of the international visitors, but Rochester’s big-ticket plan to reshape itself into a destination with more appeal for residents, visitors and developers amplifies the need for better infrastructure for air travel.

WKBT-TV LaCrosse —Local hospitals always preparing for cyber attack by Eric Jacobson — Experts said Gundersen always has contingency plans if something were to happen with data, with the intention of always staying operational if any data breach were to happen. Mayo Clinic Health System also sent a statement reading, "At Mayo Clinic, we are committed to protecting patients and their data. We continuously monitor our approach in the face of nearly continuous cyber attacks that we and other organizations encounter daily."

WQOW-TV Eau Claire — Chippewa Valley colleges see high interest in nursing careers as national nursing shortage grows by Kaitlyn Riley — A crucial career in the medical community could be facing one of the largest labor shortages yet. Mayo Clinic Health System said there has been a national nursing shortage for decades, but that the Chippewa Valley is lucky to have nearby facilities like Chippewa Valley Technical College and UW-Eau Claire that provide a steady flow of young professionals, even if some of them relocate out of the state… "As our population ages, there is a growth of chronic conditions that we need to work with, so our nurses are more challenged," Pamela White, the chief nursing officer at Mayo Clinic Health System, said. "

Reader’s Digest —Drug Shortages: The Scary Reality of a World Without Meds by Katherine Eban — Threatening medical-care options and patients’ lives, drug shortages have occurred in almost every pharmaceutical category…A study published this March in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings attributed more than 15 documented deaths since 2010 to either lack of treatment or the switch to an inferior drug as a result of medication shortages.

Post Bulletin— Mayo reduces medical mistakes by Mike Klein — The number of medical mistakes reported at Mayo Clinic's two hospitals in Rochester dropped in 2015 to 31, with 11 serious injuries and no deaths, according to a report released Friday by the Minnesota Department of Health. "We're constantly looking for ways to improve the safety and effectiveness of care," said Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler, Mayo Clinic patient-safety officer, who noted that overall, Mayo sites in Minnesota fell from 54 events in 2014 to 43 events in 2015. Additional coverage:Mankato Free Press

Star Tribune —Students compete in person for scholarships at University of Minnesota's Rochester campus by Maura Lerner — On Saturday, they’ll divide into four groups, competing for nearly 50 individual scholarships. Most are aimed at high school seniors who will be starting as freshmen this fall.…The final category, known as Mosaic Scholarships, was created for continuing students taking part in a special certification program at the Mayo Clinic.

Huffington Post Canada — The Best Teas For Your Health by Joy D’Souza — Tea is the second most popular drink in the world besides water, but unlike water, tea comes in a wide variety of flavours and can even be infused into other types of food and drink. While the caffeine in coffee, for example, gets praise for reducing the risk of a stroke, some teas can contain up to 70 mg of caffeine per cup, slightly less than a cup of joe, according to the Mayo Clinic, meaning they'll have the same effect.

Pioneer Press —Rosario: Supreme Court Justice Amy Klobuchar? Could happen by Ruben Rosario — If — and this is a very big if — U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn. is nominated by President Barack Obama to fill the U.S. Supreme Court vacancy following Antonin Scalia’s death, I’ve got some juicy dirt on her that could derail her chances…. Another potential scandal is what she blurted out while on the operating table during her hip-replacement surgery at Mayo Clinic in 2006. “Is Dr. (Robert) Trousdale a Republican?” she asked the shocked surgical team. She later maintained that his party affiliation — he told her he was an Independent when she came to — was of no concern to her and blamed her off-the-cuff query on “anesthetic-induced curiosity.” Sure.

MD Magazine —Hand Sanitation: Simple Oversight Improves Compliance by Jeannette Wick — The American Journal of Infection Control has published a prospective, single-blind study that discusses this issue in the perioperative setting. Its focus is finding effective reminders to increase hand sanitation. This research team works in the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville, FL. Their interest was use of passive visual stimuli (meaningful pictures) to encourage handwashing.

KARE 11 —Norm Coleman: 'I treasure every day' by Julie Nelson — U.S. Senator Norm Coleman has a different outlook on life, four months after he was diagnosed with throat cancer. Coleman noticed he had a dry throat for about two months and went to the doctor for help. He also noticed a lump on the side of his neck. He was diagnosed with cancer after a biopsy. Coleman sought treatment at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, opting to take part in a new clinical trial.

Star Tribune —Hospitals' medicine mistakes spike, but more mysteries revealed by Jeremy Olson — A case in point is a lawsuit filed Feb. 3 against Mayo Clinic by the family of Bertha Nelson, who suffered kidney damage and died June 9, 2014, after her doctors allegedly failed to follow their colleagues’ recommendations and reduce her antibiotics when they discharged her.

Bloomberg —Delos™ Announces Strategic Alliance with CBRE Group Inc. — CBRE will become a founding alliance member of the Well Living Lab™, which is the world's first human-centered research lab designed to study the interaction between human health and well-being and the indoor environment. A collaboration between Delos and Mayo Clinic, the Well Living Lab will begin launching studies in April 2016 and is located adjacent to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. CBRE's Global Director of Corporate Responsibility David Pogue will become a member of the Delos Advisory Board.

KXAN-TV Texas — Former Marble Falls football player sues district by Chris Sadeghi — Each day, Blake Ripple takes pills and wears transdermal patches to help ease the pain. He has seen multiple doctors and neurologists, including some at the Mayo Clinic. They told him he has suffered between 30-40 mild to major concussions which have led to the chronic nausea and vomiting that make it difficult to sleep. Blake Ripple is just 23 years old.

WVLT-TV Knoxville —Happy National Wine Drinking Day by Kitty Capelle — Did you know that wine has some health benefits? The Mayo Clinic reports that red wine has something in it called, "resveratrol" that might be good for your heart. Researchers with Mayo Clinic say antioxidants and alcohol in red wine help prevent heart disease by increasing HDL cholesterol (also known as "good cholesterol") and protecting the arteries against damage.

Victoria Advocate — Cuero family unites around daughter's cancer treatment by Rye Druzin — It was hard to tell that the same 15-year-old Cuero High School sophomore had been hospitalized for the past six days because of an infection linked to her chemotherapy treatments for Ewing sarcoma cancer…Jocelynn's trip to Cuero Community Hospital and then MD Anderson Cancer Center last week was due to an infection caused by chemo-induced neutropenia, an abnormally low white blood cell count, according to the Mayo Clinic.

KTTC —Report: Hospital adverse events rise statewide, drop at Mayo Clinic — Statewide, the report showed there 316 adverse events reported, which is up from the year before, when 308 adverse events were reported. The reports include 47 fatal or disabling falls in hospitals, 29 procedures to the wrong body part, and seven neo-natal deaths or serious injuries in low risk deliveries. Locally, Mayo Clinic Rochester had 31 adverse events.That number is down from the year before, when there were 44 adverse events. Dr. Timothy Morgenthaler, the patient safety officer at the Mayo Clinic, discussed the improvement.

CBS Philadelphia — New Study Shows The Pros And Cons Of Sharing Your Bed With Your Pet by Stephanie Stahl — Should you let your pet share your bed? If you do, it may be causing you to lose out on a good night’s sleep. A recent Mayo clinic study is challenging the conventional wisdom that animals in the bedroom can mess with your sleep… “If having a pet nearby helps them feel relaxed and gives them a sense of security, which permits them to fall asleep with less difficulty, then I think that is something that does deserve attention,” said Dr. Lois Krahn, a Sleep Specialist at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Additional coverage: El Nuevo Hearld,

KAAL — Marriage at Work: Katharine and Dan Price, Mayo Clinic — Dan and Katharine Price have quite a bit of experience working together. Not only are they colleagues, they have been married for 13 years. Dan sees patients with head and neck cancer who need surgery. And Katharine sees those same patients who need chemotherapy.

The Australian — Cheating death through medical science by John Ross — This month the Mayo Clinic — the world’s biggest integrated non-profit medical group practice, with almost 60,000 staff — claimed a major advance with what is in effect a cellular detox involving senescent cells…The Mayo discovery opens a new front in medical science’s drive for eternity. Other researchers pin hopes on manipulating telomeres to save damage to chromosomes, repairing dysfunctional mitochondria to stop our ageing muscles getting weaker and extracting secret ingredients from red wine and chocolate. When the Mayo scientists ridded rodents’ bodies of senescent cells, they extended the mice’s lifespans by more than one-third.

Yahoo! UK (AP) —Dalai Lama assures faithful he's in good health — The Dalai Lama is assuring his followers that he is in good health, despite receiving treatment in the U.S. for a prostate condition. The 80-year-old Tibetan Buddhist spiritual leader spoke to about 3,000 people Sunday at the Minneapolis Convention Center. The Dalai Lama arrived last month at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. The Star Tribune reports he told the crowd he'd been receiving treatment for prostate problems. Additional coverage: NY Times, Star Tribune

Globe Gazette — Cronkite News: Study proposes colon cancer screening at younger age — Suryakanth Gurudu, a gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic in Scottsdale, said getting tested early is recommended if patients have colon cancer in their family history. “Patients with first degree family members — that includes, parents, sisters and brothers — should undergo a colonoscopy at age 40.”

Star Tribune —Rochester couple renovate historic Conley-Maass building by Matt McKinney — Drawn to Rochester for medical treatment at the Mayo Clinic, Traci Downs and her husband, Hunter, originally thought they’d be in southeast Minnesota for only six weeks. That was a few years and a business relocation ago. Now permanent residents, the Downses this summer plan to open one of the first buildings in the state’s largest-ever economic development project.

WIZM News Talk —La Crosse man sues Mayo for $10,000 over $6 co-pay — A $6 co-pay without warning was just too much. A La Crosse man took Mayo Health System to court over all six of those dollars, seeking $10,000 in damages over such a surprise bill he received in the mail. John Joseph Miller believed the hospital broke the rules by sending him a bill for a $6 co-pay after surgery.

KEYC Mankato —Medical Errors Report Works To Increase Safety by Shawn Loging — Minnesota Department of Health released its latest report on patient health and preventable errors in hospitals and surgical centers. This past year, hospitals in the state saw a slight increase in the number of "adverse health events" with 316 from 308 the year before. It's been part of Minnesota's efforts to be a leader in the nation when it comes to patient care…Mayo Clinic Health System Regional VP Southwest Greg Kutcher says, "It hasn't been without its bumps, sometime that leads to the impression that maybe we're more unsafe. The truth is we're much safer because as a state we've chosen to be very transparent."

Santa Cruz Sentinel — Daughter of Santa Cruz liver transplant survivor gives her organs by Kara Guzman — Now Diane Collopy is planning a quilt block for her daughter, Jeannie Collopy-Bach, who died in August of a brain aneurysm at age 52. Collopy-Bach died asleep in her bed, but doctors kept her on life support for three days before recovering her organs…Collopy-Bach was also a tenacious researcher and when her father Jim Collopy was told by San Francisco doctors that they couldn’t do anything for his liver cancer, Collopy-Bach got on the phone and began networking, looking for an alternative. She eventually found the Jacksonville, Florida Mayo Clinic where her father received the transplant. Additional coverage:Bloomberg

Star Tribune — Jack Link's will open office, store in Mayo Clinic Square in downtown Minneapolis by Kristen Leigh Painter — Jerky maker is opening a new office and store later this year in downtown Minneapolis at Mayo Clinic Square, formerly called Block E, a move that will double its local employee count. Additional coverage: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Star Tribune — Wolves' Bjelica has foot strain; will not play on upcoming road trip by Kent Youngblood — Nemanja Bjelica has a foot strain and will not play in the Timberwolves’ upcoming three-game road trip to Toronto, New Orleans and Dallas. Bjelica had an MRI performed at the Mayo Clinic over the weekend, which revealed the strain; Bjelica missed his third straight game Monday night. The origins of the injury are rather murky. In San Diego over the All Star break, he did his usual workout before boarding a plane back to the Twin Cities. By the time he had arrived in Minnesota, the foot was hurting. Additional coverage: WCCO

KAAL — ABC 6 News Investigates: Where's the Zip Rail? by Olivia York — Devlin says the rail, whoever is executing it, could only be a positive. He says this is especially the case when the only other realistic way to get to Rochester is by car. However, Arndt points out the flip side to the argument...The effects the rail could have on Rochester’s economy and DMC are still unclear, but Devlin tells ABC 6 News that Mayo Clinic has not joined the zip rail discussion. While the reasons are unclear, Devlin says he does feel that sooner or later Mayo Clinic will have to get involved.

Attn.com — The Horrifying Thing That Happened When This Woman Got a Standard Pedicure by Laura Donovan — An Arkansas woman named Stacey Wilson was hospitalized for an infection, which may have been caused by a cut from a pedicure. So much for a relaxing weekend indulgence…Doctors at Saline Memorial Hospital told Wilson that she had contracted cellulitis, which the Mayo Clinic describes as a "potentially serious bacterial skin infection" that can "rapidly turn life-threatening," if it is not treated. "Cellulitis occurs when bacteria, most commonly streptococcus and staphylococcus, enter through a crack or break in your skin," the Mayo Clinic states on its website.

Post-Bulletin — Seen & Heard: Physician, 'hockey dad' sticking up for the sport by Megan Kennedy — Dr. Michael Stuart's love for hockey is almost as famous as his reputation in the medical field. Stuart is a professor of orthopedic surgery and co-director of the Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine Center. He's also chief medical officer for USA Hockey and president of the Rochester Mustangs, a sled hockey team, the first of its kind in Rochester.

CBS News — How to protect yourself from hospital-acquired infections — Bringing a canister of bleach wipes can also help. A 2011 study conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that wiping down surfaces around the hospital bed can reduce the risk of some C. diff infections by as much as 85 percent.

KIMT —Frozen section analysis proves to be time and cost efficient for breast cancer patients receiving lumpectomies by DeeDee Steipan — Breast cancer patients who get lumpectomies can reduce their rate of needing a second surgery if a frozen section analysis is done in the operating room, according to a recent Mayo Clinic study…Dr. Judy Boughey who authored the study says there is significant cost savings. Additional coverage: ecancer news

KEYC Mankato — HPV Rates Drop 66%, Researchers Point Toward Vaccines by Ryan Gustafson — The CDC says HPV rates in young women and teenage girls has dropped tremendously. And they're attributing that good news to the HPV vaccine introduced about a decade ago. Medical researchers have had ten years to see the impact Gardisil, the name of the HPV vaccine, has had on HPV infections, in particular the strains of HPV that cause cancer. And the numbers have been shocking in terms of success. "A 66% reduction in cancer-causing HPV — without having vaccinated the entire group — that's outstanding. That's going to translate into many thousands of lives saved down the line." Dr. Stephen Thome, Mayo Clinic Healthy System oncologist is interviewed.

Star Tribune —A Mediterranean diet for the mind by Allie Shah — A cautionary note David Knopman, an investigator with the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, said the research is solid but he cautioned against overstating the Mediterranean Diet's benefits on the brain. "The risk is in overinterpreting it," he said of the study. "It doesn't say that if somebody who hasn't been eating healthy up until age 65 suddenly becomes a Mediterranean Diet devotee that it's necessarily going to help them.

Star Tribune —Wolves' Bjelica has foot strain; will not play on upcoming road trip by Kent Youngblood — Nemanja Bjelica has a foot strain and will not play in the Timberwolves’ upcoming three-game road trip to Toronto, New Orleans and Dallas. Bjelica had an MRI performed at the Mayo Clinic over the weekend, which revealed the strain; Bjelica missed his third straight game Monday night. The origins of the injury are rather murky.

MobiHealthNews —Fitbit revenues top $1.8B in 2015, added 1,000 enterprise customers for corporate wellness by Aditi Pai — Fitbit offers specialized tools that are designed for the needs of the research community, Park said. One such example of a medical research effort is Mayo Clinic, which used Fitbit in a trial that found, by monitoring activity data, researchers could more accurately predict surgical recovery time. Additional coverage:MedCity News

Post Bulletin —Book spotlights forgotten 'Women of Mayo Clinic' by Matthew Stolle — Many people are familiar with Mayo Clinic's genesis story. But now, a new book written by Rochester author Virginia M. Wright-Peterson seeks to penetrate the mists that surround many of the all-but-forgotten figures who propelled the clinic forward in its early years. And she does so by primarily focusing on the women. "Women of Mayo Clinic: The Founding Generation" introduces readers to women who not only bumped up but broke through the glass ceiling of the times.

Seattle Times —Mayo Clinic News Network: Carbs and endurance training: tips for success — For athletes engaged in endurance sports — like running, cycling or swimming for more than two to three hours at a time — carbohydrates are a necessity to provide fuel to the muscles and are critical to go the distance. Registered dietitian and nutritionist Erica Goldstein offers a variety of tips to help athletes understand the best foods and options for carb loading during training. “The top question I’m usually asked is what I should be eating during training,” says Goldstein, who sees patients on Mayo Clinic’s Florida campus.

Mankato Free Press —Coroner's replacement has 2014 drug autopsy at core by Dan Linehan — Blue Earth County has replaced its longtime coroner after a judge tossed out a death examination he conducted in 2014 partly due to his lack of qualifications….The “only reason this came about,” he said, was because Gremel, 68, said he would be retiring and the county wanted to be ready with a replacement. Peterson said Gremel went as far as to bring in other Mayo Clinic doctors to make a pitch to replace him. “When he himself brings Mayo to us to give their pitch on what they could do for us for coroner, that drives the message home for us that he was going to retire,” he said.

Live Science — This Sugar May Be New Weapon Against Fructose by Christopher Wanjeck — Fight sugar with sugar? This could be the implication of a new study on mice revealing that a natural sugar called trehalose prevents a diet high in fructose, or fruit sugar, from causing fatty liver disease…Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease affects at least 10 percent of Americans and 60 percent of obese individuals, according to data from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

Daily Union —A.’s heroin cases not just homicides by Alexa Zoellner — No matter how hard Jefferson County government pushes, the heroin and opioid epidemic continues to push back…Mayo Clinic’s Mayo Medical Laboratories website explains that once heroin is absorbed into the body, it is rapidly deacetylated first to 6-MAM via removal of one of the acetyl groups and then to morphine via removal of the second acetyl group.

KIMT-TV — Warrant issued for man who allegedly threatened violence at Mayo Clinic by Mike Bunge — Authorities are looking for a man who allegedly threatened the staff at Mayo Clinic. 36-year-old Adam Lawrence Bussman of Pine Island was arrested on December 4 after authorities were notified of Facebook posts that included a photo of him holding an AK-47, complaints about poor medical treatment at Mayo and a photo of an appointment document with the title “intern hunting I go.”

Post Bulletin —Main Event: 'Go Red' event helps raise 'underdog' health concern by Holly Galbus — The importance of awareness and education in women's heart health was the main course at Rochester's Go Red for Women luncheon, Feb. 11 at Mayo Civic Center. Attendee Kari Carter is a nurse practitioner at Mayo Clinic's Women's Heart Clinic. She said following Life's Simple 7 guidelines are key in the prevention of heart disease." Only 1 percent of people follow all of them," she said, "because life gets in the way, but everyone should try to work closer to them.

National Institutes of Health —Senescent cells tied to health and longevity in mice by Harrison Wein, Ph.D. — In a process called cell senescence, cells stop dividing to produce new cells…A research team led by Dr. Jan van Deursen at the Mayo Clinic previously developed a way to remove senescent cells from living mice. Taking advantage of the fact that senescent cells express certain unique genes, they designed transgenic mice in which injection of a drug triggers senescent cells' death.

Daily Mail —The little girl who stopped growing: Mother turns to social media after her daughter's mystery illness stumped doctors for years... and finds the answer in just 24 hours by Belinda Cleary — A woman from Western Australia saw the post after it had been shared into a mother's group - and told the family their daughter had Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome. Mrs. Blomley has set up a Go Fund Me page so that she can fly to Minnesota’s Mayo Clinic in America with her husband, Isabella and her four other children to get answers. There are only a few hundred people with documented cases of Trichorhinophalangeal syndrome worldwide.

WNAX Radio —Mayo Clinic Researching Proton Beam Cancer Therapy — The Mayo Clinic introduced its new Proton Beam Therapy Program with treatment for patients at the Rochester, Minnesota facility last summer. In properly selected patients especially children and young adults and those with cancers located close to critical organs and body structures proton beam therapy is an advance over traditional radiotherapy….

Pharmaceutical-Journal —Why the use of anti-ageing drugs could delay the development of chronic diseases by Michele Solis — Drugs that work upon these pathways could slow ageing and its associated ailments in people when they need it most. “It’s hard enough to tell 20-year-olds to wear seat belts, let alone what they should do to feel healthy when they’re 85,” says James Kirkland, a researcher on ageing at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “So it’d be great if there was a pharmacologic agent that works for people when they are already beginning to feel that things are going wrong.”

Wall Street Daily — Want to Live Longer? Get Rid of Your “Zombie” Cells by Tim Maverick — Research in Early Stages — The Mayo Clinic’s Dr. James Kirkland, one of the study’s co-authors, offered some insight. He said, “By attacking these cells and what they produce, one day we may be able to break the link between aging mechanisms and predispositions to diseases like heart disease, stroke, cancers, and dementia. There is potential for a fundamental change in the way we provide treatment for chronic diseases in older people.”

KIMT —Helping those with disabilities work by Adam Sallet — “We cannot sit back and let talent sit on the bench we need to make sure to create pipelines to all talent in the region and find a way to put those talents to work to meet our workforce needs,” Guy Finne with Mayo Clinic Human Resources says. He encourages other business owners to come to their next meeting which will be held at the end of April.

LaCrosse Tribune —Dali Lama talk at Mayo to be on web — The Dalai Lama will deliver a talk titled “Compassion in Health Care” during a presentation at the Mayo Clinic at 1 p.m. Monday. Although the 80-year-old Tibetan monk’s talk in the chapel of Saint Marys Campus is intended for Mayo staffers, it also will be available to the public on a live webcast on Dalailama.com.

Post-Bulletin —Dalai Lama to speak Monday at Mayo Clinic by Brett Boese — The Dalai Lama spoke to a crowd of 3,000 in Minneapolis during the weekend and has a similar event planned for March 9 in Madison, Wis. While those are the only two public events on his official schedule, the famous Tibetan Buddhist is also scheduled to address to Mayo Clinic staff Monday at the chapel of Saint Marys Hospital in downtown Rochester.

ACS Surgery News —Damage to nearby structure common cause of hernia malpractice claim by Richard Mark Kirkner — General surgeons are among the most sued physicians, and hernia repair is one of the most common operations they perform, so a study was conducted to drill down into the legal data on hernia repair to determine what about the operation is most likely to get surgeons in trouble. They found that a failure to diagnose a complication caused by damage to a nearby structure during the operation was the most common cause for a malpractice suit for hernia repair, Dr. Nadeem Haddad of the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., reported at the Association for Academic Surgery/Society of University Surgeons Academic Surgical Congress.

GenomeWeb —MedGenome Acquires Lifecode Health — Lifecode was originally launched in 2013 as Silicon Valley Biosystems. Last year, the company changed its name and also completed a $20.5 million Series A financing round. The company offers an NGS-based pan-cancer test and in 2013 struck up a collaboration with the Mayo Clinic to develop a clinical sequencing pipeline.

Politico —SNAP drug testing debate kicks off in House by Helena Bottemiller Evich — Happy Wednesday, Feb. 24! Welcome to Morning Ag, where your host is filing from sunny Scottsdale, Ariz., at the Mayo Clinic for a National Press Foundation program on obesity. Follow the convo on Twitter #NPFobesity. You know the deal….

NY Post —Disneyland made me throw up 50 times in one day by Kyle Smith — Mom Sarah Gleeson thought she had planned out the perfect surprise trip for her little girl and the kid’s twin brother, Michael. The family met up with Sarah’s sister-in-law, Tina, at a London train station…“You could see the excitement on their faces, but we hadn’t even got off the Eurostar [train] when Mia started vomiting,” Sarah told the news agency. It turned out Mia was suffering from a condition called cyclic vomiting syndrome (CVS). Really, it’s a thing — even the Mayo Clinic says so.

Timberjay (Minn.) —Beating the odds by Marshall Helmberger — What had once seemed a nightmare is looking much more like a dream come true for Christina Hujanen, who is contemplating a future once again after a months-long battle with cancer. Doctors at the Mayo Clinic informed Christina this week that after successful surgery for her esophageal and stomach cancer earlier this month, she is all but cancer-free. Some residual cancer cells remain in two lymph nodes, she said, but doctors are now confident that follow-up chemotherapy will leave her free of the scourge that shook her life to its very core last fall.

Advisory —Surveys, trainings, and code phrases: How one hospital tackles hand hygiene head-on — Internal survey data at Mayo Clinic Florida (MCF) show that compliance with hygiene policies in recent years has hovered between 95% and 100%. The consistent high performance can make a real difference for patients who are vulnerable to hospital-acquired infections. To achieve such strong performance, MCF has put in place several initiatives that leverage nurses to strengthen hand-hygiene best practices. Nurses, CNO Deb Harrison says, are critical because they are natural patient advocates and consistently are "working at the point of care."

Record Searchlight Calif. —Mayo Clinic News Network: Understanding heart disease in women —Amy Pollak , a cardiologist at Mayo Clinic on the Florida campus, says one in three women die each year of heart disease and stroke, and 80 percent of cardiac events can be prevented. She says living a heart-healthy lifestyle and making simple changes can be the cure.

WUFT Fla. —Florida Institutions Awarded $16 Million for Cancer Research by Dakota Sproule — The Florida Department of Health awarded $16 million to organizations throughout the state to support cancer and tobacco-related disease research efforts… The Mayo Clinic Florida was awarded about $965,000 for one project, led by E. Aubrey Thompson, PhD. The project will look at genes from tumors to determine why certain patients, with HER2-positive breast cancer, are cured and others aren’t, Thompson said. About 10 to 15 percent of breast cancer patients have high levels of HER2, a protein that grows rapidly and spreads to other areas of the body.

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